Horton Road

Horton Road was the medieval route from Datchet to Colnbrook and the main road between London and the west, running through the long funnel-shaped area of Datchet Common to the eastern parish boundary. Dwellings developed along its northern edge from early times, probably as squatters’ cottages on the Common.

It became one of the most complex areas of Datchet as ownership of very many plots was carved out of the common land. Over time, these were amalgamated into several prestigious estates and farms but tiny groups of cottages, workshops and fields remained until Victorian times when pleasure grounds were created. More recently, the gardens of the large houses have been infilled with houses and new roads – reversing the previous process.

Although most of the big houses have been demolished, they have left their mark on the lie of the land and in place names.

Introduction
All these houses share the same site and ownership history. The name 'Astracot' is here used for the three dwellings, The Nook, Lovell Cottage and Astracot, 17 to 19 Horton Road, which were originally one house built in the early 1500s, ...

Cedar House is now the only survivor of an estate which once bordered a long section of Horton Road and ran northwards through to our London Road. The ownership of this house can be traced back to the mid 1500s, although altered in the 1700s and 1800s,...

Introduction
Only one major house remains here from what was a complex sequence of dwellings accumulated over several centuries in a disorganised way, seen in the 1839 map below. This whole Lawns strip was radically altered by John and Mary Crake...